Numerous elongate surgical tools are now available to enable a surgeon to operate deep inside human bodies to make intricate incisions, e.g., to separate cancerous tissue, without having to make major cuts from the outside into the patient's body. A prime example of the use of such tools is to be found in laparoscopic surgery in which the surgeon typically employs one or more cannulae through which to insert elongate tools to provide lighting and viewing of a surgical site, to provide lavage, to provide insufflation with carbon dioxide to permit access to the surgical site, and to apply the distal working ends of a variety of surgical tools.
These tools are shaped, formed and operable to precisely cut tissue, to cauterize incised vessels from which body fluids may leak at and around the surgical site, and to locally coagulate blood as appropriate. Numerous such surgical tools are known and more are being invented all the time. Some of the tools apply mechanical force to one or more sharp edges to cut tissue or to grab and/or manipulate tissue, while others employ carefully focused laser beams to cause very rapid heating and destruction of target tissue. Yet other tools allow the local application of controlled high frequency current to obtain comparable results and/or to coagulate body fluids or to cauterize cut vessels.
Examples of recently developed surgical tools and instruments of pertinent type, which have slim elongate cylindrical bodies and which are powered by laser energy or electricity to deliver controlled amounts of energy to tissues for various surgical procedures, include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,164,945, 5,275,596, 5,276,693, 5,306,274, 5,320,620, and 5,342,355, relevant portions whereof are incorporated herein by reference.
The type of surgery discussed above almost inevitably causes small elements of incised tissue, coagulated fluids, and charred material to adhere to the outside surfaces of the surgical tool. As the surgeon moves the tool in translation within the surrounding cannula, or turns the tool to apply it at different angles, the incidental debris which attaches to the outside of the surgical tool can pose difficulties. It is not always possible to remove such material by suction and lavage. Furthermore, the surgeon may wish to insert different tools through the same cannula to perform different surgical functions or to extract tissue samples for prompt testing thereof, and may need to use the same tool intermittently in conjunction with other tools.
In conducting the large variety of surgical activities discussed above, it would be very helpful to the surgeon if means were provided which would ensure that tissue debris is very easily and continuously removed from the outside surface of the distal or working end of the surgical tool while the surgical tool is slidably and rotatably supported within the cannula. It is also desirable that the surgeon be able to remove a first tool, utilize a second tool through the same cannula, and reinsert the first tool back into the cannula without having tissue debris interfering with the activity or inhibiting the surgical procedure in any significant manner.
It is believed that no such devices are presently available, and the present invention is expressly designed to meet this long-felt need. The simplicity and functional advantages of the present invention will be best understood with reference to the drawing figures and detailed description provided hereinbelow.